Friday was my LONGEST day of the conference, and that’s saying a LOT considering my Wednesday schedule with a 4AM wake-up call.. Since so much happened this day, I am posting this in two parts. This post will feature events directly from the AASL scheduled conference at the Convention Center.

Decisions, decisions

I had wanted to attend the Best Apps session, which is a spin off committee from the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning led by BWTL committee member Melissa Jacobs-Israel. When I arrived, wow, the room was filled to capacity with standing room only. The good news is it was video-recorded to be added to AASL’s eCollab portal, so as a member I can catch it after conference. Once I discovered this (yeah, it was published everywhere in the printed guide, which I threw away after tearing out my map of Hartford) I intentionally skipped those sessions, which changed my mind about many sessions in my schedule APP. Note to self: pay closer attention to symbols on guides, in apps, and on signs posted. The little asterisk on my phone and iPad app meant they were recorded for later. I never returned to the Marriott Ballroom D since everything there was recorded in some form or fashion for later consumption.

Snapped a photo of the sign outside the room to REMIND me they were going on AASL’s eCollab!

A Change of Plans for the Planner

I turned to the Author sessions, as many as I could squeeze in, which were not recorded. SCORE! It was a good move. For many who wonder why they should pay their AASL membership, eCollab is definitely a worthwhile reason!! I revised my schedule, and chose instead to attend the session “Authors who Skype.” It was awesome! I tweeted out thoughts from these sessions, and I encourage you to checkout my twitter feed, but I must beg forgiveness over spelling and such–i cannot fix it once it goes. <blush> NerdProbz!! I went to the session featuring Authors who Skype. Here is their presentation. I also attended the author session “Presenting Social Issues in Teen Literature” featuring Patricia McCormick, Eliot Schefer, Cheryl Karp Ward, and David Levithan. (I actually went to the exhibit hall to get a free signed book from Levithan for my school!)

Shusterman and Rocco–what a pair!

To reserve my seat in the suck-up row, I arrived at 2:45ish. Shortly after, SLJ’s Rocco Staino joined me there.

After a quick lunch at Panera with Diana and Anne, I returned to the Learning Commons for a catch-up session with my Minneapolis friends Sally Mays and Dawn Nelson. At 2:45 I headed over to the last author session of the day slated to begin at 3:15, which was my absolute favorite. It was titled “Boys Reading: A Focus on Fantasy.” Sitting in the front row as close as I could get (yes, the suck-up row) I sat right beside SLJ editor Rocco Staino. Rocco was the conference “author” organizer, and we had a nice chat catching up while waiting. He assured my I’m on the SLJ Summit invited list permanently, and I promised I am coming to the one in the fall of 2014. I wanted to be in this session JUST to hear Neal Shusterman. This room rapidly filled to no more room even on the floor. The entire session was run by the authors themselves, and they were as follows: Moderator, Jonathan Auxier, and panelists Jon Scieszka, Tony Abbott, Neal Shusterman, William Alexander, and Adam Gidowitz. Glad I went to the restroom before this session, as (sorry, I know this is crude, but it’s true) I would have wet my pants from laughing so hard during the Q&A led primarily by Auxier. Neal Shusterman was actually a few minutes LATE, but no worries, they went over a few minutes, and really, I think we all would have stayed another forty-five minutes to an hour. I tried to use Twitter for my note-taking (#FAIL) but you can look for the dates of my attendance at conference (November 13-17) to see what I posted.If you have not read SLJ’s recap, definitely go read it. My description is not as nice as theirs–it was like listening to six seventh-grader twelve year-olds talking about “rainbow farting unicorns.” Apparently boys never grow up. But it was a great session none-the-less!

Fantastic end to the formal Friday scheduled AASL Conference!

Google Pres from Authors Who Skype

Highlight of the Day / Lowlight of the Day

Highlight of day: Boys Read session!!

Lowlight of the day: disappointed that i didn’t realize I had eCollab sessions in my planner! AT least I was able to quickly adjust my plans for the sessions I would attend.

Picture Attributions:
All pictures in this post are from my own picture feed in Flickr.